Water Level Drop on Boiler

John Temporale

I have 3 Bigelow Boilers maintaining 60 psig steam pressure. Boiler # 1 sightglass empties out when make up water feeds into it. Normal level on all 3 is about 1/4 full in the glass when McDonnell Miller is satisfied. Water is feed into boiler at top. All 3 systems have a solenoid valve to allow H20 to Boiler. Our Condensate pumps run all the time at 140 psig discharge pressure. The other 2 boilers (same header, same condensate system) do not drop water level when the solenoid valves feed water to them. Why only # 1 level drops & trips L.W.C. has been a mystery. This only happens some of the time. Water level drops rapidly. I replaced all check valves, checked for temp change on drain down valve to make sure we are dumping water from boiler. I have tried everything, replacing all check valves, controls floats but still have this problem. Should I try raising level to 3/4 full in the glass? Am I over firing the Boiler? The owner asked why all of a sudden is this problem occuring and why only is Boiler # 1 doing this?

Ken_40

Start with the simple stuff:

1. Is the upper gage glass boiler connection plugged?

2. If there's try-cocks, see if the actual water level is what the gage-glass suggests.

3. Does feed-water have any venturi-like connections, like coming in on the run of a tee, the branch of which may be going to boiler # 1?

4. How long does the imbalance last? Or, does the interconnection not allow "water level equalization?

5. 60# of steam is not high enough to be true HP, but certainly not low enough to be LP. Are you doing steam to water via HX type designs?

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"